


VI. Winchester Brothers

by ShadowCas



Series: Where Do We Go From Here? (SPN Hiatus Creations 2019) [6]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Betaed, Cas is Sam's brother, Cas is family, Dean is kind of weird about it though, Gen, Helpful Cas, Long coda, Pre-Slash, SPN Hiatus Creations 2019, Sam as a leader, Week 6, Winchester Brothers - Freeform, but barely, coda series, implied dean/cas, overwhelmed Sam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-24 08:48:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19720279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowCas/pseuds/ShadowCas
Summary: Having a full Bunker is a little overwhelming for Sam. Cas does his best to let him and Dean take some time apart to recuperate, but in the process, learns a little bit more about his importance to the Winchesters.





	VI. Winchester Brothers

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to sweetness47 for beta-ing!

Jody and Donna are true to their word about bringing in more hunters. In the few weeks following their arrival, the Bunker sees a heavy stream of newcomers from across the country, some even outside of it. Apparently, there are a lot of hunters that Sam and Dean aren’t acquainted with — mostly quiet folks who like to stay off the grid. These are the kind of old-fashioned hunters that they grew up with, but eventually drifted away from, as they got pulled into bigger and bigger fights. However, Jody and Donna operate more locally than them, and this has allowed them to build up a more organic network than the Winchesters have been able to in the past few years.

The group is diverse in age, gender, and race, but this collection of hunters get along surprisingly well, even though they’re in tight quarters. Cas is painfully reminded of the group from the Apocalypse world, who were almost all wiped out by Michael when he was loose in the Bunker. Cas shakes his head and pushes that thought aside. There’s enough to be guilty about in this life without taking the blame for another angel’s violence. That being said, he worries a bit about all the new people here, and whether they really know what they’re getting into. With no plan, at least not one that they’re privy to, the stakes are high. Nobody really knows what’s at risk.

However, it’s clear to him that Sam is struggling the most with this situation. In some ways, he had become somewhat of the de facto leader of all the people from the Apocalypse world, and Cas can see that this weighs heavily on his shoulders. Despite this, Sam steps up, yet again, into the leadership role that suits him well. However, it wears on him. Sam approaches each situation with a weariness and tentativity that wasn’t there before.

One day, it becomes a little bit too much. During a routine training exercise, Patience takes a fall and hits her head fairly hard. She’s okay, but Sam practically loses his mind until Alex confirms that she’s only a bit bruised — not even a concussion. The damage to Sam’s mental state has been done, however. Sam is suddenly on edge, all his nervous ticks coming to the forefront as he barely holds it together.

Unable to watch this any longer, Cas finally steps forward and suggests that he take a break. “You need to get away for a bit. Go take some time to de-stress.”

But Sam is stubborn. “No. No, I can’t,” he insists, betraying himself with a nervous twitch of his brows. “It’s fine; everything’s fine. I can handle it.”

Luckily, at this point, Dean’s attention has been attracted. “Alright, Sam, come on. Cas is right. Let’s go get your mind off… all of this for a while.”

“Where?” Sam asks desperately. “We can’t go outside! The Bunker is packed. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do here.”

“Let’s go down to the Dean-cave,” Dean insists. “We’ll play some foosball, watch a dumb movie. You need to take a break, Sam, or you’re gonna go crazy.”

“But..” Cas can tell that at this point, Sam is close to caving. “Someone needs to — I have to keep an eye out up here,” he points out feebly.

“I can do it,” Cas volunteers quickly. He knows that Sam and Dean can be overwhelmed by too much company, likely the product of their isolating childhood. For the sake of Sam’s sanity, they need a reprieve from the large, boisterous group of hunters under their roof.

“Are you sure?” Sam asks, but it’s hardly a fight at this point.

He smiles in a way that he hopes is encouraging. “I’m sure. Go. Have fun, for once.”

With a pointed look from Dean, Sam finally agrees. “Fine. Okay. But please, call me back up if anything important happens?”

“Of course,” Cas says, even though he has no intention of following through on that request. He can handle it for once. It’s only one day.

He checks in on the brothers a few times over the course of the day. Each visit is a marker, showing proof of the good it does Sam to have a little quality time with his older brother. Every time Cas checks in, he can see a little less tension in Sam’s shoulders and jaw. It’s good for Dean, too, he thinks. There’s a more casual air about him, free from some of the posturing behavior that Cas sees him put on when there are other experienced hunters in the room.

Dean sticks to his promises, and sure enough, Cas catches the brothers first playing foosball, and then in the middle of a Star Wars marathon. Cas takes a moment to sneak a bag of chips down to them — this breaks a rule with their rations, but Cas reasons that the food isn’t going to last them much longer than a month anyways, and the final battle certainly won’t be that soon, not with Rowena still out of contact, and no word from Billie on their next steps. They’ll have to go out for more soon enough, so why not spread a little enjoyment where he can?

Later, he finds them playing cards, seemingly in a rematch of last week’s game of poker. After that, he walks in to Pulp Fiction playing on the modest TV (not nearly as impressive as the haunted one they’d had before, but it gets the job done), although Sam and Dean seem to be more invested in their game of darts.

All in all, it is a bit like a mini-vacation for the brothers, and Cas is happy that he could do some part in providing it.

It does end up being a long day, and it isn’t hard for Cas to see at all how Sam has built up stress to the breaking point. Even just this one day has been exhausting, from trying to wrangle in a lot of big personalities and keep everyone under control. Sam manages far more than he’s had to, and he makes a note to talk to Dean about the two of them taking on more of Sam’s load where they can.

Once the Bunker has settled in for the night, more or less, Cas makes one last trip downstairs to see how Sam is faring. He quickly realizes that he’s walking in on a heart-to-heart, and he tries to turn back unnoticed.

“—and I know there were a lot of other factors at play, but I just can’t help but feel that I failed — oh, hey Cas,” Sam says, interrupting himself.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude. I’ll go.”

“No, stay,” Sam says. “I mean, if you can. We haven’t seen you all day.”

Cas suspects that Sam is just being polite, but he accepts the invitation and lowers himself into a chair. “How are you?”

“A lot better. Thank you, really,” Sam says emphatically. “You were right.”

“Everyone needs a break,” Cas tells him. “You should let Dean and me do more to help. It’s too big a workload for one person, Sam.”

“I know, I know. It’s not just that. It’s more of… Maggie and the others.” He dips his head, hiding his expression.

“You feel responsible.”

“Yeah.”

“It’s not your fault,” Dean says. Cas nods in silent agreement “If anything, it was mine.”

“It was Michael’s,” Cas corrects wearily. He’s tired of them shifting the blame between themselves. “We were dealt a poor hand.”

“I dunno,” Sam says after a moment of reflection. “I think I’m just not cut out to be a leader. I only do it because someone has to.”

“That’s not true,” Cas finds himself saying sharply. “You are the backbone of this group. We wouldn’t be functioning if it weren’t for you.”

“Cas is right, Sam.” Dean says. “You’ve done a great job here, and you did a great job before that too; we just ran into some really shitty luck. And before that? Remember when you led that attack against the Men of Letters? Dude, you were so outmatched, but you guys still kicked ass. Give yourself some credit.”

Sam looks away from them, shaking his head, but Cas can spot a small smile. He rises. “I don’t want to take up too much of your time. I know you’ve been feeling overcrowded.”

Sam practically chokes. “Yeah, but not from _you_ , Cas.” Cas squints a bit in confusion. “Look, I appreciate what you did for us — for me — today, but don’t ever feel like I need space from you. You’re family, Cas. You’re like a brother to me,” he says. “I mean, Dean too.”

Dean nods in agreement, but he does look weirdly put off by the idea. Cas tries to ignore the pang in his chest at that and focus on Sam’s warm words.

“Thank you, Sam,” he says, and he really means it. “You too.”

He’s always thought of the Winchester brothers as a duo. It’s never occurred to him that he may actually be included in that group. 


End file.
